Hallburg Castle

Hallburg Castle, also known as Hallburg Palace, is a hilltop castle located on the 230 m above sea level "Hallburger Schlossberg" above the Main loop of Volkach, two kilometers south of the town of Volkach in the Lower Franconian district of Kitzingen in Bavaria.

The castle, whose history is partly obscure, was owned by the Counts of Castell until 1230, who held the Vogt rights in Volkach in the 11th century. They presumably received the castle as an imperial fief and operated it as a toll castle on the Main.

In the atonement treaty of January 18, 1230, Count Rupert zu Castell had to cede the castle to the Diocese of Würzburg as compensation and received it back as a collegiate fief. The brothers Berthold (1241, 1254), his brother Friedrich (1244), and an Albert (1248) are mentioned as Castell's vassals at the castle. In 1314, the castle came into the possession of Heinrich von Hohenlohe, and the first Main toll was levied under his rule. The Fuchsen von Schwanberg received parts of Hallburg, which they sold in 1334.

In 1365, the castle was transferred to Stephan Zollner zu Hallburg. The Zollners were to own the castle until the 17th century. In the 15th century, feuds and storms destroyed Hallburg. In 1525, during the German Peasants' War, peasants from Volkach and Fahr plundered the Zollburg. In 1631, the Swedes occupied the castle and held Protestant services in the chapel. Above all, however, the mismanagement of the owners damaged the building, so that in 1634 the property was no longer leased to the Zollners.

In the 17th century, the complex came into the possession of the Counts of Stadion. In 1634, the administration was entrusted to a Vogt, as the Counts hardly inhabited the castle. In 1639, the castle grounds passed to the Schenken von Stauffenberg, who remained owners of the castle until the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss.

After the secularization in 1806, Hallburg came to Franz Erwein von Schönborn. In the 1840s, the use of Hallburg changed again: the secundogeniture of the Counts of Schönborn established its seat here. Frequent rentals of the castle complex followed, leading to an English military officer moving in in 1866, and the Russian Baron von Grothues in 1869. On October 1, 1955, the district with the castle and manor was incorporated into the town of Volkach.

Today, the castle grounds house the agricultural estate and the Graf von Schönborn winery with the "Schlossberg" vineyard, managed by the Schönborn'sche Domänenverwaltung Wiesentheid. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation lists the remains of Hallburg under monument number D-6-75-174-269.